Wire-stretcher.



No. 810,003. PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906. L. SWANK.

WIRE STRETCHER.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 28.1905.

Ii I mmmumlll b EMU llllllillllllllllllllll 1 LAFE SVVANK, OF ANDERSON,

WIRE FENCE COMPANY, OF ANDERSON,

- TION OF INDIANA.

INDIANA. ASSIGNOR TO DVVIGGINS IN DIANA, A CORPORA- WlRE-STRETGHER- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

Application filed October 28, 1905. Serial No. 284,814.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAFE SWANK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Stretchers, of which the following is a specification.

In the use of wire-stretching tools in the field difficulty has been experienced by reason of the fact that after the tools have been used for a short time there is a tendency for the parts to so loosen that the wire may become caught between the swinging parts in such manner that it becomes very difiicult to release the wire after the stretch has been accomplished.

The object of my invention is to produce a hand-tool by means of which fence-wire may be readily stretched, the construction being such that the wire may be readily released from the tool.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a plan of the active portion of the tool; Fig. 2, a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3, aplan, on an enlarged scale, of part of the structure shown in Fig. 1 and showing a wire in position; Fig. 4, an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 a perspective.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a lever of any desired length provided on its under side with a recess 11, open at one corner of the short arm of the lever. Pivoted to the under side of lever 10, closely adjacent the recess 11, is an arm 12, which at its outer end carries an uprising finger 13, which thus forms a surface 14 of considerable length, which surface may be placed against a post or other stationary body and serve as a bearing of sufficient length to prevent the tool from canting. The arm 12 is provided on its up per face with a rib 15, which extends into the recess 11,of the lever 10, said recess being of sufficient width to permit free swinging of the lever on the arm 12, but the walls of said recess limiting the movement of said lever on the arm. Pivoted to the upper face of arm 12 adjacent the short end of lever 10 is a jaw 16, having a hollowed end 17, the curvature of which is slightly greater than the curvature of the adjacent and fitting end of the lever 10, so that the fence-wire 18 may be engaged between the short end of lever 10 and the jaw 16 at two separated points 19 and 20.

The under face of jaw 16 is provided with a recess 21, adapted to receive the adjacent end of the rib 15, the arrangement being such that rib 15 serves to prevent the wire 18 from dropping down upon the upper face of the arm 12, and thus preventing the posslblhty of the wire from working between the lever 10 and arm 12 or between the jaw 17 and arm 12, even though those parts be somewhat loosely pivoted.

In operation the wire 18 is grasped between the short end of lever 10 and the jaw 16, as shown in Fig. 3, and the face 14 of the finger 13 placed against a post, whereupon by pulling upon lever 10 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 the wire 18 may be stretched and then secured in position.

I claim as my invention 1. A tool of the class described comprising a lever, an arm pivoted thereto, a coacting jaw also pivoted to the arm adjacent the short end of the lever, and means arranged between the adjacent ends of the lever and j aw for preventing the wire from lying closely upon the arm.

2. A tool of the class described comprising a lever, an arm pivoted thereto, a coactmg jaw also pivoted to the arm adjacent the short end of the lever, means arranged between the adjacent ends of the lever and jaw for preventing the wirefrom lying closely upon the arm, and a finger 13 carried by the fulcrum end of the arm.

3. A tool of the class described comprising an arm having a rib on its upper face, a lever pivoted upon the upper face of said arm and provided with a recess on its under side near the short end to receive one end of said rib, and a jaw pivotally mounted on the arm and adapted to cooperate with the short end of the lever and provided with a recess on its under side adapted to receive the other end of said rib.

4. A tool of the class described comprising an arm having a rib on its upper face, a lever pivoted upon the upper face of said arm and provided with a recess on its under side near the short end to receive one end of said rib, a In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my jawpivotallymounted on the arm and adapthand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this ed to cooperate with the short end of the le- 24th day of October, A. D. 1905.

ver and provided with a recess on its under LAFE SWANK. [L. s.] side adapted to receive the other end of said I Witnesses: rib, and a finger 13 rising from the face of the ARTHUR M. HOOD,

arm at its fulcrum end. JAMES A. WALSH. 

